NOTE:
We obtained XPKeyGen from the site MSBetaNG. Although the
program remained available through them for days after our article,
predictably, the site has recently been taken down -- Microsoft has long
arms and many eyes. MSBetaNG provided an alternative outlet for
material posted in certain "alt.binaries.warez..." newsgroups.

A small program called "XP KeY
ReCoVeRER AND DiSCOVErER 5.12" appears to be capable of successfully
neutering Microsoft's notorious WPA. Included in Windows XP, Office XP
and other new Microsoft products, WPA is a scheme to block the use of
certain Microsoft products on more than one computer per program copy.
The Redmond software giant claims that WPA, or "Windows Product Acitvation," is a mechanism to prevent "casual
copying," even though Microsoft has admitted that commercial
piracy is a much more serious threat to its revenues.

By generating as many unique and valid
CD keys as desired, the key generation program enables users to provide
different CD keys for different installations, thus circumventing the intent
of WPA.

Does it work? We visited a
site that claims to have the
program available for download. After uncompressing the 20kB zipped
file, we followed the included instructions and generated keys for Microsoft
Office XP Professional (the program also generates keys for Visio XP as well
as different variants of Windows XP). After a few minutes, the program produced
seven different keys. We then used one of these keys on a test
installation of Office XP that we purchased at Sam's Club.

Skeptically, we tried the first key
and were surprised to find that it was valid. Still, we suspected that
this could be the result of a few real keys embedded in the program that
would not pass the muster of activation. However, to our amazement, we
were able to flawlessly activate Office XP via the Internet.
Consequently, there seems to be no barrier to completing activation over the
phone either.

It appears that Microsoft's WPA is
based upon a key generation algorithm rather than a fixed database of "real"
CD keys. Presumably "XPKeyGen," as the program is also being called,
works by reproducing this logic. Somehow the author has obtained -- or
perhaps cracked -- Microsoft's WPA key generation algorithm.

Clearly, if this program typically
works with the success that we have seen, it poses a blow to Microsoft's
nefarious WPA strategy, a plan that attempts to tie every WPA-enabled
program to a single machine by uploading a user's installation information
to a central Microsoft database. This database is cross-checked
whenever a program is activated, which occurs on program installation or
whenever the system's hardware configuration has changed significantly.

Whenever activation fails, usually
because of hardware configuration changes or because software is moved to a
different computer, the user has to telephone Microsoft and explain why they
should be given another activation code. Since we at VHJ test
hardware for a living, we have had to call Microsoft on several occasions to
beg for activation codes just so that we can continue to use the software we
purchased.

Mechanisms similar to WPA -- but even
more invasive -- are in the works for preventing the "casual copying" of
digital entertainment media such as DVD movies and CD music.

VHJ does not condone the use of
illegally obtained software, nor do we make any claims that XPKeyGen is safe
to use, nor does VHJ endorse this program. VHJ has no
connection to MSBetaNG, the distributor of this program, nor does VHJ have any knowledge of the program's author.